BEAUMONT, Texas — Across the state, voters are expected to head to the polls on Tuesday, November 8 for the 2022 midterm election.
Southeast Texas voters will have important state-level and local-level decisions to make come November.
Political analysts believe Texans have a slew of issues on their minds including inflation, abortion, gun safety, health care and more. Experts predict Texans' will consider these topics as they cast their ballots, hoping to vote on someone who will tackle the issues.
Tom Taschinger is the editorial editor of the Beaumont Enterprise and a political analyst. He believes Republicans are favored on most topics.
“It's more of a level playing field,” Taschinger said. “It still favors the Republicans, but it's more level."
Despite that favor, Taschinger believes some voters will vote for Democratic candidates due to their stance on certain issues.
“Women want abortion access legalized, plain and simple,” Taschinger said. “Only about 15% of the population wants a total ban on abortions. They want access, so that issue definitely supports Democrats."
Taschinger feels Republicans do have the upper hand on other areas of concern, such as the crisis at the border.
“Everybody knows there are too many undocumented migrants coming over the border,” Taschinger said. “It's uncontrolled. The federal government is taking names, processing people and releasing them. It's a bad issue for Democrats."
Taschinger said residents in areas such as Hardin County and Orange County have mostly voted conservative. He feels Jefferson County voters could go either way come November.
An area-level race that Taschinger feels voters should keep an eye on is the one between Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick and Democratic challenger Carolyn Guidry.
“In either party, these races are not decided by large margins,” Taschinger said. “They're decided by a few thousand votes. It's within reach for both parties, in Jefferson County at least."
Taschinger believes a majority of the state-level races favor Republicans. The race that a lot of Texans are keeping tabs on, the race for Texas governor, is tight.
Polls show Gov. Greg Abbott is leading Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Beto O’Rourke by five percentage points.
“Most people suspect Abbott will win and O'Rourke will come close and not pull it off,” Taschinger said. “But boy, an upset is just not out of the question."